Ashton Kutcher apologises for "offending" women in LinkedIn post

Ashton Kutcher has apologised for offending women with some of the questions he posed during a discussion he hosted on LinkedIn about gender equality in the workplace on.

The Two and a Half Men actor took to the business networking site on Wednesday (5Jul17) to discuss the hot button topic but some of his questions drew criticism.

Ashton's well intentioned chat took an awkward turn after he released a list of talking points on LinkedIn which included questions on flirting and dating in the workplace.

The Ranch actor started off the discussion by posing the questions; "What are the Rules for dating in the work place? Flirting?" and "What are the clear red lines?"

Next he asked: "When does the line between work life and social life stop and start". Other questions included, "Given that in the short term we are clearly bound by the existing educated talent pool in STEM, other than promoting STEM education parity going forward, how do we stop gap a solution?" But his earlier questions prompted a flurry of angry comments from people on social media who were offended by them.

The 39-year-old star was quick to respond to the negative comments labelling it a "learning experience" and thanked his critics for their "feedback".

"I've already offended some folks by asking the wrong questions. I'm certain given the sensitivity of the topic I will say other things wrong," he admitted on Twitter. "Hope we can find space to be wrong in the pursuit of getting it right."

"We have centuries of ground to make up in a short order & I don't want the basics to be off limits. some clearly don't yet get the basics."

The Hollywood actor then went on to say that he will be hosting an open live conversation on Monday morning (10Jul17) on his Facebook page to continue the discussion on gender equality in the workplace.